The Biggest Recruitment Industries in the UK

Analysis of over 1 million job ads conducted by Adzuna, has found the industries experiencing the most growth across counties in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The research study assessed which industries have the most vacancies, broken down by each county in the UK.

Industry

Number of Counties

1

Healthcare & Nursing

24

2

Teaching

20

3

IT

13

4

Engineering

9

5

Logistics & Warehouse

8

The table above shows the top 5 industries that resulted in the highest number of vacancies across the number of counties in the UK.

The healthcare industry has topped the charts for the most vacancies across the counties, as it dominates almost a quarter of the UK.

The fear of Brexit is looming over the NHS, which has resulted in a 90% drop in people from the EU applying for jobs in the healthcare industry. Experts say that the situation has become worse due to health workers having no certainty over visas. As a result, there is now a large number of vacancies that have become available across the UK presented in the table.

The research also shows that the industry has more vacancies in rural counties such as Durham and Somerset – it is evident that aging population is a factor. In Somerset, statistics say that a third of the population is over the age of 65, which comes as no surprise for the large figures for healthcare and nursing jobs available. In Cornwall 1 in 4 people are over 65 – likewise in Conwy and Anglesey compared to the UK average of 18%, while East Sussex is predicted to have the UK’s largest population of over 85’s by 2026.

The analysis shows that there is currently a high demand for teachers as it is the top industry for vacancies across 20 counties in the UK. The Education Policy Institute in September 2018, revealed that schools are facing a ‘severe shortage’ of teachers. Numerous reasons have suggested why, such as bigger class sizes and more subjects being taught by staff without a relevant degree – maths and science being the main ones.

This is especially evident across schools in England as they say they are struggling to recruit and retain staff. In central London, only 57% of teachers who qualified in 2012 were still working in the classroom in 2017, which highlights an underlying problem in the teaching industry.

The current UK average salary for teachers is £31,719. This is quite concerning considering only Inverclyde on the list is going higher than the average salary, the rest of the counties are below the average. However, the Education Secretary, Damian Hinds recently announced that teachers would get a fully-funded pay rise – with hopes to improve the number of applicants for teaching roles.

The IT industry has the highest number of vacancies in 13 counties in the UK. There is no doubt that the industry is booming, with statistics showing that the UK is currently ranked third in the world for total capital invested in digital tech companies. The sector is fast-improving and growing. The big IT companies such as Google and Apple aren’t the only ones with the most vacancies, there are many tech start-ups (primarily in London) that have varied job opportunities available.

It is also not just Greater London that is profiting from the industry, the North of England is too with counties such as Tyne and Wear and Greater Manchester having IT as their top industry for employment. Alongside the popular cities in Scotland and Northern Ireland – where Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast are all topping the tables for the most vacancies in the sector.

Engineering in the UK has been a consistent industry in terms of growth and salaries for numerous years, dating back to the Industrial Revolution. Results show that the sector has high vacancies throughout the UK, being the industry with the most vacancies in 9 UK counties.

With technology constantly advancing and growing, it is the sector filled with ultimate innovation. However, the demand for a variety of engineers is as high as ever. The areas of engineering can range from aerospace to environmental. The food and drink sector of engineering is the UK’s largest, as it employs more than 400,000 workers. Some of the counties which topped the tables were Derbyshire, Armagh, North Ayrshire and Gwent, where engineering had the most vacancies than any other industry.

The logistics and warehouse sector has become one of the top 5 industries for employment across 8 counties within the UK. Interestingly, the logistics and warehouse industry has a particularly large amount of vacancies in places where Amazon has its warehouses. They have a warehouse in Daventry in Northamptonshire, Coalville in Lincolnshire and Rugely in Staffordshire, which explains why this industry has the most jobs available in these counties.

The digital era is constantly changing and growing bigger. More and more people are choosing to shop online rather than going into stores themselves, and huge retail stores such as House of Fraser and BHS being forced into administration. As a result of this, vacancies ultimately have become higher in the logistics and warehouse sector.

See below for the full table with the UK counties and their top industry.